Spontaneous Memorialization: Violent Death and Emerging Mourning Ritual

Abstract

Violent deaths stand out in stark relief against the contemporary social climate of controlled private death and grieving. Both uncontrolled and public violent deaths call into question some of our most fundamental cultural values and prompt spontaneous rituals to publicly express individual and collective grief. We refer to these new rituals as spontaneous memorialization and to the impromptu shrines that result from this memorialization as spontaneous memorials. In this article, we introduce both concepts, delineate the characteristics of this emerging American mourning ritual and use it to illustrate our contention that death ritual is important in the contemporary United States but that it is changing form in response to the needs of a changing society.

Acts of Resistance: Breaking the Silence of Grief Following Traffic Crash Fatalities

“…It is clear that enormous upheaval is likely to occur following the death of a family member in a road traffic crash. Indeed, violent deaths, including road traffic crash deaths, are often the catalyst for grief and mourning responses that extend beyond Acts of resistance 6 the margins of 'controlled' deaths that tend to occur in older age (Haney, Leimer, & Lowery, 1997).…”

A Cross Marks the Spot: A Study of Roadside Death Memorials in Texas and Oklahoma

“…There are three exceptions to MVC involvement identified in this study: (a) a pedestrian7train collision, (b) a single vehicle motorcycle accident, and (c) a death rumored to have been the result of murder, with the body dumped by the side of the road. There is considerable overlap between the spontaneous memorializations spoken of by Haney et al (1997), and the RDMs that were the focus of this study. All seven of the characteristics of spontanous memorials described by Haney et al were supported by the findings of this studyöwith one difference that will be addressed later.…”

“…Klein (1998), in a book that is a tribute to her daughter killed by a speeding driver, includes a photograph of``Gili Klein's Garden,'' a heart-shaped and flower-filled memorial to mark where her daughter Gili was thrown from the car in which she was riding. Haney, Leimer, and Lowery (1997) have addressed the practice of spontaneous memorializations that are often in response to a violent death, such as from murder, auto accident, or suicide. According to Haney et al, spontaneous memorializations have the following characteristics:…”

‘The Island of Blood’: death and commemoration at the Isle of Man TT Races

“…Survival is dependent on their location; in urban areas these memorials last for a matter of weeks before being 'tidied' away by officials; in rural locations tributes may persist until decay. Such 'spontaneous shrines' (Grider 2001;Haney et al 1997) often develop in the immediate aftermath of sudden death when the bereaved 'flooded with emotions, including guilt, loss, impotency, separation' (Clark and Franzman 2006: 579) attempt to rationalize the loss of a loved one (Collins and Rhine 2003: 228). For the bereaved great significance is given to the place of death where 'the presence of the deceased can be felt and recognised; and the understanding that the place where life was lost is a special place for memorialisation' (Clark and Franzman 2006: 579;Everett 2002).…”